The Many Sopranos References In The Many Saints Of Newark

There are a lot of references to "The Sopranos" in "The Many Saints of Newark." In fact, I think there are too many – it starts to feel like an Easter egg hunt. With that in mind, it would probably be impossible to list every single reference; the list would basically say, "Just watch the whole movie." But if you're curious about some of the more prominent, important references to the hit show in the new movie, I am here to help. With "The Many Saints of Newark" now in theaters and on HBO Max, I've put together a handy little guide to some of the major "Sopranos" references. But a word of warning: this list contains major spoilers for both "The Many Saints of Newark" and "The Sopranos." Proceed with caution. 

There are a handful of scenes in "The Many Saints of Newark" where we see wiseguys hanging out at Satriale's Pork Store. This is a familiar site for "Sopranos" watchers – Tony Soprano and his crew are often hanging out there when they're not chilling in the back room of the Bada Bing! strip club. "The Many Saints of Newark" doesn't go into this, but in "Sopranos" lore, it's established that the original owner, Mr. Satriale, was a gambling addict who went into debt with Tony Soprano's father, Johnny Boy Soprano. To pay off the debt, Satriale handed the store over to Johnny – and eventually died by suicide. Upon Johnny's death in the 1980s, Tony took over ownership of the store.

Holsten's is the ice cream shop that became infamous as the setting of the final "Sopranos" scene. Tony meets with his family there in the final moments of the series finale, as "Don't Stop Believing" plays on the jukebox. The ice cream shop also pops up in "The Many Saints of Newark" a few times, and even figures into the film's ending. Sort of. During the course of the movie, Tony's favorite uncle Dickie Moltisanti cuts the young Tony off, worried he's a bad influence on the kid. However, Dickie relents and agrees to meet Tony at Holsten's. However, Dickie never makes the meeting – he's killed before he can arrive, leaving Tony waiting at the store alone, wondering where his uncle is. 

In the season 6 episode "Soprano Home Movies," Tony's sister Janice drunkenly recalls a story about how their father Johnny Boy shot a bullet through the beehive hairdo of their mother, Livia. The story upsets Tony because he gets uncomfortable talking about his parents – he has pent-up rage against his mother, and he doesn't want anyone to think his father was a bad guy. The beehive hairdo shooting story comes up again later in season 6 in the episode "The Second Coming," and once again, it angers Tony. 

In "The Many Saints of Newark," we actually see the shooting happen midway through the movie. Johnny Boy and Livia are in a car with Johnny's brother Junior and Junior's girlfriend. Livia is talking non-stop, to the point where it angers and annoys Johnny Boy, resulting in him taking out his gun and firing a shot through Livia's hair. Livia is unhurt by the shooting, but it's an understandably awkward moment for everyone in the car.

In the season 1 episode "Down Neck," we're treated to a flashback to Tony's childhood. In that flashback, the young Tony is upset that his father keeps bringing Janice to a carnival while leaving him at home. Tony follows his father and Janice to the carnival one day, only to see Johnny Boy end up arrested and hauled away – because the carnival is a front to launder money for the mob. "The Many Saints of Newark" recreates this scene near the start of the film, swapping in the film's actors for the actors who played the younger "Sopranos" characters on the show. It's all part of Tony's introduction to the criminal lifestyle of his father and his father's friends and family. 

Tony Soprano mentions several times during "The Sopranos" that he wanted to play football, and that's mentioned again in "The Many Saints of Newark." However, not everyone believed in Tony's football dreams. A running joke on the show involves Tony's Uncle Junior commenting that Tony "never had the makings of a varsity athlete." And "The Many Saints of Newark" reveals what might be the first time Junior ever utters those words, with Tony telling his family he wants to play football, and Junior stating under his breath, "He doesn't have the makings of a varsity athlete." 

In "The Sopranos," Tony has an incredibly toxic relationship with his passive-aggressive mother Livia. And the same is true with "The Many Saints of Newark." The younger Livia isn't quite as nasty as the older version, but she's clearly unsure how to talk with her son. At one point, she attempts to have a pleasant conversation with Tony, but her own mental state gets in the way and she ends up growing more and more hostile until she mocks Tony's problems by stating, "Poor you." It's a phrase the older Livia utters with venom in "The Sopranos." 

This is a big one. In "The Sopranos," Dickie Moltisanti, father of Christopher Moltisanti and cousin of Tony's wife Carmella (who is briefly spotted in one scene in "The Many Saints of Newark"), is long dead. Christopher has no real memory of his father, Dickie having been killed when he was very young. In "The Sopranos" season 4 episode "For All Debts Public and Private," Tony devises a plan to bond Christopher closer to him since he considers Christopher to be a "blood relation" he can trust (Christopher isn't actually related to Tony by blood, but that doesn't bother Tony much). 

Tony's plan to bond with Christopher involves telling Christopher that the man who killed his Dickie was a cop named Detective Lieutenant Barry Haydu. Tony takes Christopher to Haydu's home and says this is Christopher's chance to get revenge against the man who murdered his father. Christopher enters the house and attacks Haydu. Haydu denies any involvement with killing Dickie, but Christopher kills him anyway. 

Whether or not Haydu was really the killer has always been open to interpretation. Tony claimed that Haydu was tasked with killing Dickie because Dickie murdered a made guy in prison, and the subsequent murder of Dickie was retribution for that action. However, "The Many Saints of Newark" finally gives us the true story. As it turns out, Dickie was killed by orders from Tony's uncle Junior, who was tired of Dickie constantly busting his balls and making fun of him in front of the other wiseguys.